Glacier Country

Having ridden the Glacier Highway to Franz Josef we decided we hadn't ridden this far not to go and see the two notable west coast glaciers, namely Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier. 

It seemed strange visiting icy spectacles in the heat of mid summer, but the tourist swarms were once again present.

We first visited Fox Glacier to find that the access road had been washed out in the December floods, leaving us to park the bikes in a newly gravelled car park just off the main highway with the added joy of a 5km walk, in motorcycle attire, to see the glacier.

Due to the bare rocky valley surrounds Fox Glacier is an impressive sight, especially considering its close proximity to the coast, towering defiantly above the rain forest. 

I was surprised to find that the mints were not named after the glacier!

Refreshment was now necessary, obligatory ice cream milkshakes were consumed in the nearby village.

We were able to see the snow capped peak of Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest mountain, from the nearby Cooks Flats (flat plain of land, not multi storey dwellings).

We next rode to Franz Josef Glacier, whose access road was thankfully intact. We then walked around 1km to the viewing point in the increasingly hot afternoon sun.

Once again the glacier was an impressive sight, filling a towering rocky valley. Clearly visible on both of the glaciers were pink/brown patches, caused by soot blown over from the Australian bushfires.

We returned to our accommodation to relax after a hot arduous day, to enjoy Jen's carefully microwaved tinned spaghetti, before I suffered a bout of leg cramp following the days exertions combined with a lack of water intake!